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Alumni Band Rocks in Las Vegas

Frontier Natural Products Co-op™ employee band Aeroroot recently returned from their latest competition in Las Vegas to reflect on another successful musical competition and the unique opportunities they experienced along the way.

The band, comprised of Mount Mercy College Assistant Professor of Business Tracy Tunwall, alumni Clint Landis ’88 and Brett Karminski ’01, along with Steve Krusie, Frontier’s public relations director, jammed at the Western Regional Competition on May 22. This was the second regional competition in which the band competed, having won the regional semi-finals for Fortune magazine’s Battle of the Corporate Bands in June 2009, where they performed at the famed Key Club on Sunset Blvd in California.

The band went on to perform in October 2009 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland at the National competition, where they had the opportunity to meet celebrity judges Tommy Lee of Motley Crew and Jeff Carlisi of .38 Special. Aeroroot was one of only 55 bands that earned the honor of playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year with other regional winners from Los Angeles, Nashville, and London.

“We made it to regionals twice and nationals once so we are very happy about our performances,” says Tunwall. “Playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was one of the highlights of my life and it was awesome to get to share that with family and friends.” In Las Vegas Tunwall had the opportunity to meet Tommy Shaw, from the band Styx, whom she joked had stolen her hairstyle.

Aeroroot, named after the herb arrowroot and as a tribute to Aerosmith, routinely performs for charity functions, including fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Flood them with Love, and other non-profits. Last year Aeroroot raised over $300,000 in one evening for the Diabetes Research Foundation. They have performed on stage at numerous venues in Cedar Rapids and the surrounding community, as well as featured on radio shows such as KZIA Z102.9 and in magazines such as City Revealed. The band was recently featured in the Mount Mercy Magazine for their success on stage and work within the community. Read the full story online.